Essentially a vehicle for Yasuko Tomita, an idol singer and actress then at the height of her fame, to shine, Jun Ichikawa's debut “Bu Su” was still a successful film, netting the protagonist a Best Actress award in the Yokohama Film Festival, where it was also declared as the second best film of the year (after “The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On”). It also netted Masahiro Takashima numerous awards as first time actor, including one from the Japanese Academy.
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After an incident that is not exactly clear, Mugiko leaves the island she had been living with her mother, a former famous geisha, in order to go live with her aunt, who runs a geisha house in Kagurazaka district in Tokyo. There, she plans to train as a geisha while also attending highschool in the city. Her decision, however, is...
Buy This Title
by clicking on the image below Version 1.0.0
After an incident that is not exactly clear, Mugiko leaves the island she had been living with her mother, a former famous geisha, in order to go live with her aunt, who runs a geisha house in Kagurazaka district in Tokyo. There, she plans to train as a geisha while also attending highschool in the city. Her decision, however, is...
- 4/17/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
This Japanese docudrama is an excellent primer on the scary near- meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. After the earthquake, a tsunami triggered a ‘major nuclear event.’ A group of dedicated engineers struggle against odds to regain control. It’s another 21st Century disaster writ large — we applaud the camaraderie and commitment of the response teams while bureaucratic and political Bs threatens to doom half of Japan. As with last week’s Spacewalker I’m betting that most negative reviews were written by people who saw the English language dub job … in the original Japanese, star Ken Watanabe’s performance is terrific.
Fukushima 50
Blu-ray
Capelight
2020 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / Available from Amazon / 29.98
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Takumi Saitoh, Kôichi Satô, Tomorô Taguchi, Mark Chinnery, Yuri Nakamura, Justin Leeper, Yasuko Tomita, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Riho Yoshioka, Masane Tsukayama, Masato Hagiwara, Shirô Sano.
Cinematography: Shoji Ehara
Visual Effects...
Fukushima 50
Blu-ray
Capelight
2020 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / Available from Amazon / 29.98
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Takumi Saitoh, Kôichi Satô, Tomorô Taguchi, Mark Chinnery, Yuri Nakamura, Justin Leeper, Yasuko Tomita, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Riho Yoshioka, Masane Tsukayama, Masato Hagiwara, Shirô Sano.
Cinematography: Shoji Ehara
Visual Effects...
- 4/24/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"Kitchen" is a dramatically indecisive but ultimately beautiful love story about two weird Hong Kong kids who see themselves as soulmates but can't decide whether to be lovers or just friends.
As part of the new Asian wave, and on the heels of such films as "Chungking Express", this warm and sympathetic picture could have theatrical chances internationally in specialty houses.
The film is an adaptation of the first novel by hot young Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto. The action has been transferred from Tokyo to Hong Kong, and the actors are Chinese except for main actress Yasuko Tomita.
The story is about two despondent youths: Aggie's family has perished, and Louie (Jordan Chan) only has his mother -- whom he also loses later in the story. Aggie (Tomita) and Louie are soulmates from the beginning, but they don't take the step to becoming lovers until the end of the movie.
As a result, the film suffers from a lack of dramatic ups and downs. This is not a "boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl" movie; it's a "boy-doesn't-tell-girl-he-loves-her, months-go-by, girl-finds-out-that-boy-loves-her" movie.
What hurts the film is that you can't tell whether the characters are rejecting love or just not in it. Yet, even while the audience is trying to figure out Louie and Aggie's feelings, the two main actors are busy burning their helpless, searching personalities into our hearts.
Director Yim Ho delivers an extremely colorful and warm portrait of intimate Hong Kong.
KITCHEN
Golden Harvest Entertainment
A Harvest Crown production
of a Yim Ho film
Director Yim Ho
Producers Yim Ho, Akira Morishige
Writer Yim Ho
Based on the novel by Banana Yoshimoto
Executive producers Raymond Chow,
Yokichi Osato
Director of photography Poon Hang Sang
Production designers James Leung, Jason Mok
Editor Poon Hung Yiu
Music Otomo Yoshihide, Uchihashi Kazuhisa
Color/stereo
Cast:
Louie Jordan Chan
Aggie Yasuko Tomita
Emma Law Kar Ying
Jenny Karen Mok
Mr. Chiu Lau Siu Ming
Running time -- 124 minutes...
As part of the new Asian wave, and on the heels of such films as "Chungking Express", this warm and sympathetic picture could have theatrical chances internationally in specialty houses.
The film is an adaptation of the first novel by hot young Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto. The action has been transferred from Tokyo to Hong Kong, and the actors are Chinese except for main actress Yasuko Tomita.
The story is about two despondent youths: Aggie's family has perished, and Louie (Jordan Chan) only has his mother -- whom he also loses later in the story. Aggie (Tomita) and Louie are soulmates from the beginning, but they don't take the step to becoming lovers until the end of the movie.
As a result, the film suffers from a lack of dramatic ups and downs. This is not a "boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl" movie; it's a "boy-doesn't-tell-girl-he-loves-her, months-go-by, girl-finds-out-that-boy-loves-her" movie.
What hurts the film is that you can't tell whether the characters are rejecting love or just not in it. Yet, even while the audience is trying to figure out Louie and Aggie's feelings, the two main actors are busy burning their helpless, searching personalities into our hearts.
Director Yim Ho delivers an extremely colorful and warm portrait of intimate Hong Kong.
KITCHEN
Golden Harvest Entertainment
A Harvest Crown production
of a Yim Ho film
Director Yim Ho
Producers Yim Ho, Akira Morishige
Writer Yim Ho
Based on the novel by Banana Yoshimoto
Executive producers Raymond Chow,
Yokichi Osato
Director of photography Poon Hang Sang
Production designers James Leung, Jason Mok
Editor Poon Hung Yiu
Music Otomo Yoshihide, Uchihashi Kazuhisa
Color/stereo
Cast:
Louie Jordan Chan
Aggie Yasuko Tomita
Emma Law Kar Ying
Jenny Karen Mok
Mr. Chiu Lau Siu Ming
Running time -- 124 minutes...
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